Sad But True
by SupernaturalSlayer
Summary: After Buffy died in "The Gift" she never went to heaven. And after her resurrection, the gang find out that what they brought back was not quite the girl they buried.
1. Chapter 1

**Sad But True**

Summary: After Buffy died in "The Gift" she never went to heaven. And after her resurrection, the gang find out that what they brought back wasn't the girl they buried.

A/N: A new story of mine. My first venture into darker stuff. This is just a teaser/opening and takes place just after Buffy is brought back. Winchesters will appear next!

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters. Buffy and co are Joss Whedon's, and Sam and Dean etc are Eric Kripkes. Title is taken from the song of the same name by Metallica.

* * *

She kept her eyes squeezed tightly shut as she heard and felt the maelstrom around her. The screams, the blood…it didn't help. She saw it and heard it everywhere she looked, even with her eyes firmly closed. She soon felt the agony of a dull knife piercing flesh so deep she could feel it connect with bone and let out an agonized scream, unable to handle the extreme torment to her senses.

Then suddenly the pain was gone and there was only silence.

She frowned before cautiously opening her eyes. It took several moments for her brain to process that she was back in her dark bedroom. In her home. She was safe. There was nothing dangerous here other than the vampires and demons outside. The usual suspects. And her own memories…She took a deep breath, willing her heart rate to go back to normal, before forcing out a shaky breath. It was over, she shouldn't be dwelling on it.

That was when she finally heard the knock on the door, "Buffy?"

Willow.

"Are you okay? We heard yelling and I just wondered if you were okay?"

Buffy forced a reassuring smile on her face, "Yeah, yeah. I'm okay. It was just a weird dream."

She wished she had said something different when that familiar old concerned expression appeared on Willow's face.

"Was it about Hell? Do you want to talk it?"

Buffy shook her head, "I'd rather not." She pretended not to notice Willow's disappointed expression.

"Oh…okay then. But…I can't imagine how scary it must have been, but, I don't know, I think talking about it might help, and if you ever need to talk about it I am right here ready to listen…" She flashed Buffy her eager 'ready to help' face.

Buffy nodded, her expression revealing nothing, "Okay."

Willow frowned in dismay, "Oh but don't you want to…?" She sighed, "Never mind. I'm just gonna go back to bed, then. But, uh, remember if you ever need to- "

"Talk. I know. Goodnight."

"Um, goodnight." Willow slowly turned around to leave the room, clearly not wanting to leave her friend, but froze when she noticed something, "Uh, Buffy?"

"Yeah?"

"What happened to your dresser?"

Buffy frowned, not understanding, and looked over at her dresser. She blinked in surprise at the sight that greeted her. The table was broken at an angle, drawers fallen out with their contents spilled across the floor. And the stool was actually *inside* the table. Like it had been pushed straight through it. Hard.

"I don't know…"


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

* * *

"So where're we headed, Sammy?"

Sam frowned distractedly, but never took his focus off the laptop screen on the table in front of him, "It's Sam. And I don't know yet."

"This mean we get to stick around a little longer?"

Sam frowned and looked up at his brother, "Why? What's here that's so special?"

"Hey, don't be so quick with the put downs, Sammy…Loosen up, let the stick slide free, and check out the scenery…" And with that proceeded to smirk and wink at the next hot chick to pass him, receiving a coquettish smile for his trouble. He flashed Sam a smug grin.

Sam just voiced an exasperated sigh and shook his head before returning to the news on his laptop, in search of their next hunt.

Dean took a pull from his beer bottle, looking around the crowded bar, surveying their surroundings, "I still think we should check out that self-inflicted gunshot case in Alabama."

"And I still think that that isn't our kind of job."

"Whatever, dude. Just find something, so I can go kick its ass."

Sam paused as he read something on his screen, "Wait…"

"What? You found somethin'?"

"I think so." He frowned, reading further, "Maybe. I found reports of some animal mutilations in New Mexico."

"Animal mutilations? What makes you think that's our kind of gig?" Dean raised an eyebrow in challenge.

Sam chose to ignore it, "Well the animal mutilations alone are pretty suspicious, but then if you add in the coinciding of some freak electrical storms…"

Dean paused, absorbing the implications of what that information could mean, and shared a knowing look with Sam, "Electrical storms and animal mutilations? You think it's the demon?"

Sam shrugged lightly, "If not the demon, at least a demon."

Dean finished the rest of his beer in one last swallow, "Guess we're goin' to New Mexico."

* * *

The Impala slowly pulled up outside the small town's Sheriff's office and, after collecting their fake IDs of the week, got out and confidently strode into the building. As per usual, Dean made a beeline for the hot secretary at the desk, mildly suggestive grin on his face.

"Hi there. Agent Campbell and Agent Dee with the FBI." Sam and Dean flashed their badges, but before they could say anything, the secretary flashed them a confused look.

"Again? I thought the whole thing had already been looked into before with the last agent."

Sam and Dean traded confused looks before Sam cleared his throat to find out what was going on, "I'm sorry, last agent?"

"Oh, there was another FBI agent here a couple days ago. Redheaded woman. She wasn't very nice." She flashed a suggestive smile at Dean, which he immediately returned. She lowered her voice conspiratorily, "In fact, she was kind of a bitch."

Dean let out a laugh, while Sam acted as if he pretended he knew what she was talking about, "Oh, yes, of course, her." He gave her a confident smile, "It's routine at our office to schedule follow up reports on unusal cases. So, we need to speak to the Sheriff now, if you don't mind."

"Uh, I'll just go let them know you're here." And with that, she moved away towards the door which was clearly the Sheriff's office.

Once he was sure they were out of earshot of other people in the room, Dean turned to Sam, a little concerned about this so-called other agent, "So what do you think? Another hunter?"

"It's possible. I mean, the signs were there and we're not the only hunters out there that scan the net. We'll just have to keep an eye out for her."

Before Dean could respond, the receptionist returned to the desk and motioned for the brothers to go into the office, "She'll speak with you now."

Sam thanked her, and the boys strode towards the office, Dean turning to face Sam briefly and mouthing 'She?' Sam just rolled his eyes and gave him a pointed look, clearly telling him to behave.

* * *

"Well that was a waste of time."

"It wasn't a complete waste of time. Eyes so dark, they could have sworn they were completely black, sulfur residue…We learned that this thing was definitely a demon. Just not our demon."

Dean nodded. That was how their luck tended to go. No way would they have somehow stumbled across the demon that had killed their mother just over a week after having nearly been killed by Meg back in Chicago. Then his thoughts turned to the other agent the hot receptionist had mentioned, "Yeah. But, dude, my mind is still on this other chick hunter working our case."

"Dean…"

Dean rolled his eyes, "Not in that way, Sam. What do you take me for?" Sam opened his mouth to answer, but Dean shot him a look before he could, "Don't answer that."

"Anyway, it's not officially our case yet, Dean. We only just found out now, and this other hunter has been on it for at least a couple days. We should really just see if we can track her down, and offer our help. Maybe trade notes."

"Alright, fine. We're on a demon hunt, searching for information on anyone suspicious who could possibly be a demon…where in a small town like this would I find a hunter on the job…"

Sam shot Dean what was 'apparently' his Sammy bitchface, knowing exactly where Dean was going with his, "Dean!"

"Oh come on, Sam! After what happened with Dad, we could use the time to unwind a little. And besides what better way to dig out some info on this chick? Actually, on the other hand, maybe you should just hang back at the motel…knowing you, you'll just end up attracting another Meg." He grinned at Sam, knowing that would irritate him.

Sam just glared at Dean, "Fine. Whatever. Go do your 'research'. I'll see you later at the motel."

Dean grinned back at him at having gotten his way, "Don't wait up." He jumped to his feet, ruffled Sam's hair (much to his irritation), and jumped in the Impala to check out the local bar they'd passed earlier on their way to the Sheriff's office.

* * *

A sleek midnight blue car slowly pulled up in front of the bar, and after the engine stopped and several moments passed, a short slender woman with long red hair slid out from the drivers' seat, dropping a small black leather duffle bag to the ground at her high-heel black leather booted feet.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

A/N: Huge thanks for the nice little part at the end goes to superslayer. Just a warning, the end of this chapter has explicit content.

* * *

Before he walked into that bar, Dean hadn't expected much. They'd been to some dives before, but this? This really took the pie.

Hmm…pie…he could go for some pie. But that would have to wait. As he and Sam had been trained their entire lives, Dean quickly scanned the layout of the bar, taking note of all the exits, before moving to the bar. He took a seat on a shaky and almost threadbare stool and signalled for the bartender. While he waited, he took the time to look around the bar again, this time concentrating on the small number of obvious locals huddled together in booths or gathered around small scratched up tables. The only other person sitting at the bar was a pretty brunette chick in torn jeans, dark blue flannel shirt partially buttoned over a black tank top, and beat up sneakers sipping casually at a beer. Slim pickings tonight, he sighed to himself. He'd take what he could get.

After ordering a beer from the bartender, he rose from his seat and moved across the bar to stand next to pretty brunette in her eyeline. He gave her his most charming smile, "Hi."

She glanced at him and gave him a quick once over, "Hi." He opened his mouth to feed her one of his patented Dean Winchester lines, but before he could get a word out… "Not interested."

He grinned lightheartedly, not discouraged yet. He wasn't Dean Winchester for nothing! "Oh come on, you didn't even give me a chance."

She gave him a wry smile, "I don't need to. I know what guys like you are after."

"Guys like me?"

She elaborated, "Players. Guys like you come to town for the night with your leather jackets, fancy cars and devil may care attitudes, thinking you're all so special, and that a night with you is gonna rock my world."

"How do you know it won't?" He raised an eyebrow in challenge.

"Because I've been there before. And I know men." She turned away from him then, done, taking a sip of her beer.

"Well maybe I know women. I could change your mind."

She snorted, "I seriously doubt it."

Dean shook his head in disbelief and the distrust and suspicion radiating from this woman, "Wow. Are all people in this town like you?"

Blank stare, "Like me?"

"Are they all this suspicious and unfriendly?"

"Oh I'm friendly. But this town…? 'S had a pretty bad streak of bad luck the last couple weeks. You can't blame people for being cautious and distrustful of strangers."

Dean frowned at her statement, remembering the case that he was supposed to be working, "Yeah? What kind of bad luck?"

She huffed in annoyance and rolled her eyes, "Well, the crazy storms, livestock being killed and drained of blood in the middle of the night, people being killed, or going missing…Honestly, if you knew what was good for ya, you'd leave town first thing in the morning."

Dean quirked a smile at her, "Well I hate to tell you, sweetheart, but I'm not going anywhere."

The girl sighed in exasperation, "How did I know you were gonna say that. What is wrong with you?"

Dean shrugged, nonchalant, "I don't scare easy."

The girl scoffed, "What, are you on some hero trip or something? You sweep in here first to hit on me, and now you're acting all brave, like murderers don't scare you."

"It's not an act, sweetheart. I really am that brave." He smirked at her.

The brunette snorted, "Sure."

"I am."

She let out a little amused laugh, and smiled in disbelief, "Okay, so you're either brave or really stupid. So prove me wrong. What brought you here?" She raised an eyebrow in challenge.

Dean leaned in towards her and tilted an eyebrow with a seductive grin. The game was back on, "Danger."

* * *

Sam stood watching all the cars pass by him as he stood by the lonely almost completely deserted gas station. He'd just spent the last 4 hours doing some digging at the library with old newspapers and records. Dean just had to go and leave him here without transportation. There was nobody around at this time of day, just barely hours before dawn. He wondered if Dean had even made it back to the motel yet, or if he'd spent the night at some nameless bimbo's place.

He rolled his eyes, but before he could give the idea anymore thought, a midnight blue car pulled up about 10 feet away from him at the pumps.

The door on the driver's side popped open, and a black leather high-heeled boot stepped out on to the ground, preceeding the appearance of an attractive redheaded woman from behind the wheel, her face partially obscured by the large dark sunglasses on her face, despite the time of day. She moved around the car, seemingly gliding to door of the all-night convenience store. As she moved, she slowly tilted her head to glance at him, and their eyes briefly met. Sam noticed the barest twitch of her mouth, before she turned away from him and continued on her way.

Sam frowned, and considered if this woman could be the other hunter in town working on their case. He decided to follow her inside and ask her some questions. If she was the hunter, he and Dean should speak to her to offer their help, or at least share information. Not that he'd actually managed to gather any, he thought with a weary sigh.

He walked into the convenience store, looking around over the tops of the small aisles, his height working to his advantage. Not being able to see her, he decided to walk across the store, looking in all the aisles. But she wasn't there. Somehow, she'd managed to leave the store without him noticing. He ran outside to see if he could catch her, but he screeched to a halt when he saw her car still sitting there, no one inside or around it. What the hell?

* * *

By this time, Dean and the brunette had moved to a table away from the door and from the bar with a tray of tequila shots. It had taken him longer than usual to win her over, but he'd gotten there eventually like he always did.

The girl laughed as Dean swallowed his latest shot, "Wow, you really weren't kidding. You drink like a fish!" She temporarily looked confused, "Do fish drink?"

Dean laughed and immediately reached over and curled his hand around her shot glasses, shuffling them over to sit in front of him, "And clearly you don't and have had enough. I'm gonna have to confiscate these."

The girl giggled, "No way! If you want those, you're gonna have to fight me for 'em!"

"Deal! What's the game?"

The girl thought quietly for a moment before her face lit up with a bright idea, "Arm wrestling!" She smiled confidently, almost positive that she would be keeping those drinks.

Dean froze, not knowing if she was being serious or not. Arm wrestling, really? "Seriously?"

She leaned forward, raising an eyebrow, confident in her own abilities, "I'm stronger than I look."

He scoffed, "Better hope so, cuz you look like a feather could beat you in an arm wrestling match." He cracked up at his own joke.

She shot him a mock glare, "That's it! Prepare to eat your words."

He laughed, raising his hands in surrender, "Alright! I'll play you. But if I win, not only do your drinks come home with me tonight, but so do you." He raised a challenging eyebrow.

She met his challenge straight on, narrowing her eyes, "You're on."

* * *

Sam gave up on trying to find a ride at the gas station, and Dean wasn't answering his phone. He walked along the side of the road through town in the general direction of the motel.

After having walked for almost a half hour, Sam was stunned to catch sight of the redheaded woman again. This time going inside an old boarded up building that looked about ready to be condemned, if it wasn't already. He picked up the pace and jogged over to where he saw the woman go.

He tested the door slightly, making sure it wasn't going to make any noise and unwelcomingly announce his prescence before he was ready, before gently pushing it open and slipping inside.

"You cheated!"

Dean shot her his best innocent grin, "I did not."

She glared at him "Yes! You did."

"Did not."

"You grabbed my ass!"

"It's called strategy. Now don't tell me you're gonna be a sore loser." He grinned suggestively.

The girl glowered at him before grudgingly sliding his unfairly won (in her opinion) shots over to him a little too roughly, some of the liquid splashing on to the beat up table.

"Thank you." He picked up a shot and downed all three in quick and easy succession. "Now…I want the rest of my winnings." He smirked, leaning across the table at her.

She slowly released a breath, settling back into her seat, "Well…no matter how unfair…" She shot him an accusatory look, "…I guess you did win." A slow smile spread across her face.

* * *

"Hey. You."

Sam jumped, much to his extreme embarrassment. He hadn't been expecting that. So maybe he was still a tiny bit rusty.

"What are you doing here?" The voice was more curious than accusatory. Clearly he hadn't been as stealthy as he'd thought.

Sam raised his hands the air to show he was unarmed and harmless, slowly turning around to face the redheaded woman, "Nothing. I was just looking for you."

The woman's tone was flip, like she already knew the answer to her own question and was just asking for fun, "And why would that be?"

"I figured we were here for the same reason. All the bad things going on in this town. Me and my brother want to offer our help."

The woman's mouth tilted sideways in an amused smile, "You think you can help?"

Sam bristled slightly, but kept his cool, "We've been doing this a long time, we know what we're doing."

The redheaded woman was still smiling, "Ooooh…defensive…yeah…you're a hunter, right?"

Sam nodded, "That's right." He hid how uneasy he was about the whole thing, especially as the redhead began to circle him wide, sizing him up like a predator would their prey.

"A hunter of what exactly? Casper…vamps, demons…?" She waved her hands with each suggestion, pursing her lips slightly in curiosity as she spoke.

"Whatever comes our way."

She gave him a wry smile, apparently not impressed, "So a jack of all trades, huh?"

"I guess…look, we just want to help. Whatever's going on here is bad. Demons are obviously in the mix."

Her circling of Sam slowed further and tightened so that she was only a couple of feet away from him, her tone of voice light and almost playful, giving away nothing, "What makes you say that?"

Sam was getting annoyed. It had been a long night, he was not in the mood for this woman's games, "It's obvious. The freak storms, the animal mutilations…Clearly adds up to demon."

"Or some local freak who takes himself for a satanist." She shot him a perky sarcastic, and definitely not friendly grin, "Look…" She raised an eyebrow and looked at him expectantly.

"Sam," He provided.

"…Sammy…" And before he could blink she was suddenly standing directly in front of him invading Sam's personal space and making him very uncomfortable, "It was sweet of you and your brother to come out this way and try and help me out, but really…I'm doing just great by myself." She gave him an insincere little smile, "Why don't you just scoot on home and find yourself a nice little spirit to go hunt."

Sam was rapidly losing his cool. What the hell was wrong with this woman? "It's Sam. And like I said, things in this town are bad. These people need all the help they can get."

She gave him a tight-lipped smile, "Fine. If that's the way you want it. You can die a couple years earlier. Just don't say I didn't warn you."

And with that she brushed past him, slipping her dark sunglasses back on her face as she glided out the door, disappearing into the early pre-dawn darkness.

Sam watched her go, and brushed off his irritation at the attitude of the arrogant female hunter. The receptionist at the Sheriff's office was right, she was a bitch. Presuming that the building was now empty, Sam pulled out a flashlight and continued on inside, curious about what it was that the other hunter had been investigating.

What he found in the next room was not what he had been expecting. It was a large room as dark and broken down as the rest of the building. But right there on the floor in the centre of the room was a large deep red pentagram. And it did not look like it was drawn in paint. And right there in the center of the pentagram was a strange unfamiliar symbol. There was nothing else left in the room, but clearly something dark had happened here. How had the other hunter found this place? What had brought her here? One thing was for sure, he needed to find Dean and get to the bottom of this, starting by finding out the meaning of that symbol.

* * *

There was something about this girl that stirred a frenzy of excitement beyond the blaring stiffness in his pants. Maybe it was the infectious giggles she sputtered between smiles or the fact that she kept teasing the hell out of him with long strokes of her hand down the front of his shirt, stopping just before she reached the waistline. Was she screwing with his head before she actually screwed with the other one? Who knew and as the spill of drinks finally enveloped his rational thinking, he planted a sloppy kiss on her mouth as he pinned her against the motel room door. His body was beyond warm as she prodded his mouth with her tongue, wrapping it around his in a seductive, lusty duel, similar to their arm wrestling match.

Dean smiled through his teeth as she speared her tongue deeper into his mouth, trying to take control. 'No way would she would beat me at this game', he thought. As the curves of her body pressed deeply against his, he yanked her legs up around his waist before pushing her black tank to expose her firm midriff. He pulled his mouth off hers and slid his tongue down her neck, attacking the crease between her breasts in circular motions. When she heaved a moan, he pushed his tongue down her midriff, brushing his mouth over the pockets of muscles in her toned torso. He felt white hot with intrigue as he tasted the faintest hint of chocolate and vanilla on her skin. Damn, she was tasty already and he hadn't even gotten all her clothes off. He hurriedly unzipped her jeans and rolled them off her waist, his body still pinning hers to the door. As he gently nibbled on the flesh of her inner thigh, another moan tumbled out of her mouth. He felt her hand gripping the back of his head as he continued to assail the curves of her hips with his mouth.

When she tugged at the hem of his shirt, he pulled his mouth off her body just long enough to peel it off his head. Her skin was blazing hot to the touch as the rest of their clothes fell away in a blink. Dean curled his arm around her small waist as he ushered her toward the bed, quickly folding back onto the mattress. He engulfed his mouth over his breast, hungrily flicking at the taut flesh of her nipple. Her body heaved forward as she released a cry of torturous delight.

As his arousal tightened another degree, he pulled his mouth off her breast and folded himself over her. After he caught her lower lip between his teeth, he plunged himself between her legs, watching her eyes roll back in ecstasy. He swept away the damp tendrils plastered over her eyes, gently wrapping a curl of her dark hair around his finger. For a moment, as he looked down into her eyes, that odd feeling kicked through him again.

She drove her fingers into the hard ridges of his back as he buried himself deeper, edging up to the hilt of her canal. He propped himself on his hands as his first thrust was slow, then gravitated into a wave of long and heavy strokes. She clasped her ankles high over his hips, taking him even deeper, her mind blistering with inexorable pleasure as her moans painted the air in short wisps before gathering in pitch and length.

Dean cupped her body against his as he heaved several ragged breaths. He buried his nose in the crook of her neck, hearing her rapid heart beat blaring in his ears. After his breathing settled, he hitched his head up to see her eyelids drawing close and the curves of her mouth forming a smile. He rolled onto his side as she tugged the covers over her sweat laden, bare body. She glanced at the clock on the bedside table before she met the glow of his eyes lingering over her, her expression suddenly becoming more serious,

"You need to go," She mumbled quietly.

Feeling hazy and ready for sleep, Dean didn't think too much of her statement. After all it was just a one night stand. Just a bit of fun. Wasn't it? "Oh so that's your game? Seduce me and then try and get rid of me?" He grinned teasingly.

She lightly smacked his chest, "No...you shouldn't be here. You really have to go." Her eyelids starting to drift shut, she squeezed his shoulder, "Promise me, Dean."

Dean paused, could he promise her this? He lied to chicks all the time, but he'd never felt so guilty for it as he did now, "…I promise."


End file.
